The first feelers after apartheid

When Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade Ehud Olmert met with Nelson Mandela two weeks ago, the former South African president told Olmert that he was very pleased with the disengagement plan and was closely following developments between the Israelis and the Palestinians. "I wish Prime Minister Ariel Sharon success," he added. "This is a step of immense importance." According to Olmert, these are not insignificant words from a man who is considered to be like God in South Africa.

The meeting with Mandela, arranged at the last moment in the leader's Johannesburg home, represented a marked shift in South African policy toward Israel. Olmert was the first Israeli minister officially invited to visit South Africa since the African National Congress (ANC) rose to power in 1994 elections.

"During the visit, I met with Mandela, President Thabo Mbeki and six ministers," says Olmert. "I attended one meeting where several leaders of the former regime were present, like Pik Botha, and a few former military commanders, who are now members of the ANC party. Israel was not criticized in any of the meetings. I frequently find myself in positions like that - where ministers and public figures, even in nations which are quite friendly, feel a need to pay verbal homage by leveling criticism at Israel so that they will not, God forbid, be accused of forgeting our harsh policy in the territories, and our mistreatment of the Palestinian public, etc. Not a word like that was spoken in any of the meetings in South Africa."

A soft spot for Arafat

Olmert's support of the disengagement plan and his position as deputy PM apparently were instrumental in landing him the invitation. But wide sectors of the South African public still identify Israel with the apartheid regime. Public image does not shift in a day. Olmert's visit was preceded by demonstrations in Capetown, Johannesburg and Pretoria, the capital city, calling on the government to cancel the visit, which protesters described as "a withdrawal from the battle for equality."

The South African Palestine Solidarity Committee, central in organizing these demonstrations, refer to Israel as "Apartheid Israel" and call the Likud Party "a vicious racist party." Muslim organizations also participated in the demonstrations alongside Cosatu, South Africa's largest trade union, and the Sangoco Coalition for Non-Government Organizations.

Signs at the demonstrations bore slogans like "Death to Israel," "Sharon the butcher," "Stop the holocaust in Palestine," "Israel and Zionism are racism" and "Isolate Apartheid Israel." A spokesman for the South African Palestine Solidarity Committee in Johannesburg described Olmert as "the most racist of all Israeli politicians." He said: "When he was mayor of Jerusalem he literally ordered the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians," and he called the visit "a reversal to apartheid times."

Olmert told his hosts that he was not surprised by the demonstrations because "Your public has become accustomed to hearing major criticism of Israel and one-sided information for years." Given this reaction, Olmert positively cited his hosts' readiness to conduct a public dialogue with him and their resistance to changing any aspect of the scheduled visit, including formal ceremonies.

A mutual investment protection agreement was signed, which later received the approval of President Mbeki. Both governments agreed to hold talks on signing a limited free trade agreement in 2005.

The high profile visit included multiple media interviews, meetings with writers and editors and, of course, the meeting with Mandela. Mandela reserves a warm corner in his heart for Yasser Arafat, whose struggle he supported during his years of imprisonment. Mandela told Olmert, "I told the Palestinians more than once that they would never beat Israel through violence. I said, `The Jews are a wise and talented people, and you should make peace with them.'" Mandela noted that Jewish organizations had always supported him, and defended him in his own struggle, and spoke about Yitzhak Rabin's death with sadness.

Alon Liel, who was Israel's ambassador to South Africa from 1992 to 1995, emphasizes how poor relations between the two nations were until only a few years ago. He cites the UN anti-racism conference in Durban two-and-a-half years ago, where truly anti-Semitic demonstrations took place. Three months ago, Durban also hosted the Unaligned Nations Conference, led by South Africa, where it was decided to recommend that Israelis living in the territories should not be permitted entry into these nations.

Israel failed to receive an invitation to participate in President Mbeki's swearing-in ceremony after the last elections on April 17, 2004. When the Israeli ambassador phoned the foreign minister's office in Pretoria to investigate the meaning of this oversight, he was informed that an error had been made. Israeli President Moshe Katzav and the Israel ambassador received invitations to the ceremony only days before its scheduled date but did not attend.

Liel says that the deterioration in relations occurred during the intifada. Attacks against Israel were broadcast on South African television, which focused on the separation fence. Even government ministers referred to the fence as the "apartheid wall." South Africa sent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad to the International Court of Justice in The Hague in February, 2004 to speak against the separation fence. "There were 14 nations who came to the court at The Hague to testify against the fence," Liel says. "South Africa was the only nation among them with which we have diplomatic ties." Mbeki also called for meetings between figures in the Israeli left, like Yossi Beilin, Naomi Hazan and representatives of the PLO, under his auspices.

"When senior members of the Israel's Foreign Ministry visited South Africa, they only met the deputy foreign minister," complained Ambassador to South Africa Tova Herzel, in an interview with Haaretz at the end of her term. She compared this with the honorable welcome enjoyed by members of the Israeli left.

Economic potential

Israel unofficially paid South Africa back by not sending a replacement for Herzel, who left her post in December, 2003. A new ambassador, Gershon Gan, was appointed but was forced to relinquish the position and leave the foreign service due to personal considerations. Meanwhile, a tender has been issued for the position of minister, and the appointment is in committee, according to a spokesman from the Foreign Ministry.

Olmert says, "I think this is something which we need to rectify immediately." The Industry and Trade Ministry also decided to cancel the services of the Israeli economic attache in Johannesburg for budgetary reasons. Ministry spokeswoman Haya Peri explained that budget cuts made by the Treasury do not permit the economic attache to continue, but that all the functions that he performed will be transferred to the embassy in Pretoria.

The first indications of the shift in the South African government's attitude toward Israel were witnessed in the appointment by Mbeki of his ambassador to Israel, Major General Fumanekile (Fumie) Gqiba. Gqiba was a former commander of the ANC's military wing, and served most recently as chaplain general of the South African National Defense Force (SANDF) before his appointment here. In September, 2004, only two months after submitting his credentials, Gqiba told Haaretz that the government of Israel should not "question our relationship with the Palestinians" and must remember that Israel was once "part and parcel of the old regime [in South Africa]. They supported them until the last. So they cannot overnight expect us to be kissing their cheeks." He also noted that some of "the technology used by the apartheid regime was supplied by Israel." Despite that, Gqiba announced that his government was interested in fostering relations with the Sharon government. "It's a myth that we are anti-Israel," he said. "We want to be partners with them toward the goal of peace."

He arranged a visit to South Africa by a delegation of MKs and members of the Likud Central Committee, which received a warm reception and met with President Mbeki. As a member of this delegation, Olmert invited three ministers (who accepted) to visit Israel, and that invitation lay the groundwork for Olmert's recent visit.

What explains the change in South African policy?

South Africa is mainly motivated by the desire to play an active role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, says Olmert. "They want to feel that they have a certain status, which is taken into consideration in connection with the conflict, and they understand that a policy of sanction and attack doesn't work."

Will South Africa be able to play a role?

Olmert insists that the South African model, which could be described as a "binational state" in terms of the local conflict, is unacceptable to him and to wide sectors of the Israeli public.

"But that does not mean that South Africa, a nation that experienced enormous political turmoil and internal revolution, might not have some sort of influence on the process of forging alternative relations between the Israelis and the Palestinians."

Olmert says he told President Mbeki that the current problem in the conflict is not the absence of a mediator, but the absence of a Palestinian partner. Moreover, he asked Mbeki, "Why should the State of Israel be interested in the involvement of an interest which misses no opportunity to vote against us [in the UN] and to condemn us?"

Netafim President and CEO Erez Meltzer, who was in the delegation of 23 industrialists that accompanied Olmert on his recent visit, poses his own explanation for the new South African approach to Israel. Meltzer says that South Africa is interested in taking advantage of its new economic power to strengthen its position in the international market. Given this interest, he says, South Africa cannot ignore Israel, a nation known in the international marketplace for excellence, broad experience, an innovative approach and knowledge in the fields of communication and agriculture. According to Meltzer, the potential value of business agreements discussed during the visit could reach $30 million in the fields of communication, agricultural technology and infrastructure innovations. Olmert summarizes, "There is the potential for tremendous cooperation between the nations."

	Ehud Omert shaking hands with former South African president Nelson Mandela at his home.